Mar 28, 2024  
2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2021-2022 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED BULLETIN]

General Education Requirements for the B.A. and B.S. Degrees (A&S)


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General Education Requirements (41-64 credits)


Students in the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degree programs are required to fulfill the general education requirements described below.

Note: Students in the English with Certification in Secondary Education, B.A. must follow a restricted version of the General Education Requirements below.

First-Year Seminar

(first year, fall semester)

Foundations of Citizenship

  • One citizenship/community course
  • One diversity course

Exploration and Breadth

  • One mathematics course
  • One arts course
  • Three humanities courses
  • Two social sciences courses
  • Two 4-credit lab sciences courses

Foundational Competencies

  • Two writing courses (first year, spring semester, and second year, fall semester)
  • One information technology literacy course
  • Two writing-intensive courses

Four UIS Courses

  • Four courses from four categories


Learning Beyond the Classroom (LBC)

  • One LBC 400  
  • One career preparation or independent critical thinking activity outside the regular classroom


Career Preparation

  • One career preparation class

First-Year Seminar (3 credits)


The college believes that the successful completion of a First-Year Seminar (FYS) is important for all first-year students. The FYS is designed to instill intellectual passion in first-year students. Students experience small-group interaction and refine the skills associated with discussion and deliberation of ideas and alternative viewpoints.

Foundations of Citizenship


Students must take one course from a list of approved courses in two areas: citizenship/community and diversity. These courses may also be used to fulfill an arts, humanities, or social science distribution requirement. In addition, if approved by the major department, these courses may count toward the major. Those students who are pursuing a double major and students in degree programs requiring 55 or more credits in the major, may use approved UIS courses to fulfill these requirements.

  • Citizenship/Community 0 or 3 credit(s)
  • Diversity 0 or 3 credit(s)

Citizenship/Community


Courses that fulfill the citizenship/community requirement can be found here .

Notes: Citizenship/Community


Students majoring in a program requiring 55 or more credits and students pursuing a double major may select one of the following UIS courses to fulfill the college’s citizenship/community requirement:

Diversity


Courses that fulfill the diversity requirement can be found here .

Note(s): Diversity


Students majoring in a program with 55 or more credits required for the degree and students pursuing a double major may select any UIS diversity course (designated by a “D” after the course number) to fulfill the college’s diversity requirement.

Exploration and Breadth


Mathematics (0 or 3 credits)


The college believes that students must demonstrate basic college-level mathematics skills by successfully completing any mathematics course (except M 118   and  M 119 ) taught by the A&S mathematics department.

Arts* (3 credits)


Select

  • one course from art history, music, cinema, or drama.

Humanities* (9 credits)


Select

  • three courses from three different disciplines from the following list: literature, foreign language, history, philosophy.

Laboratory Science (4 or 8 credits)


  • Two 4-credit laboratory courses from biology, chemistry, physics, or SCI.
  • One laboratory course may be a 4-credit, college-approved UIST course. (NOTE: UIST 150  cannot be counted as a laboratory course.)

Social Science (6 credits)


Non–Social Science Majors:

Select

  • two courses from two different disciplines from the following list: economics, politics, psychology, sociology.
Social Science Majors:

Select

  • two courses from outside the major
  • two different disciplines from the following list: economics, politics, psychology, sociology.

Note(s):


*Students who are pursuing a double major and students in degree programs requiring 55 or more credits in the major may use an UIS course to fulfill one requirement among the arts and humanities within the exploration and breadth category.

Foundational Competencies


Writing Courses (0 or 3 or 6 credits)


Additional Information:

Some students may qualify to waive required writing courses based on their SAT, ACT, or AP Language and Composition scores.  Please see the First- and Second-Year Writing Program for more information.

Writing-Intensive Courses (0 or 3 credits)


In addition to  WRT 110W  and WRT 210W , students must take two writing-intensive courses, one of which must be taken in the major. Writing-intensive courses are indicated by a W following a course code (e.g., CMM 250W ).

A writing-intensive course is one in which students do some writing for most class meetings, in addition to the writing they do for examinations and term projects. The nature of the writing varies from course to course; it may include journals, laboratory reports, short essays, or substantial research projects. Besides covering the usual content, a writing-intensive course devotes class time to the writing process: planning, drafting, revising, or editing. While each discipline has its own research methods and distinctive scholarly style, writing-intensive courses stress the common denominators of academic discourse. Writing-intensive courses have met the guidelines approved by the faculty.

University Interdisciplinary Studies (UIS) (12-13 credits)


Students must take one UIS course in each of the UIS areas (UISA, UISC, UISS, and UIST).

Learning Beyond the Classroom (LBC) (0-12 credits)


To enhance career preparation and independent critical thinking skills, undergraduate students in the college will complete a Learning Beyond the Classroom (LBC) course or activity. In general, the Learning Beyond the Classroom (LBC) requirement is not met in a regular course through normal homework outside class but through significant independent learning activities. Students may satisfy this requirement by choosing one of the following Learning Beyond the Classroom (LBC) options:

  1. An internship, practicum, student teaching placement, preceptorship (fall semester only), honors thesis, or independent research under the supervision of a faculty member. This would be done with a course taken for credit. Courses that satisfy the Learning Beyond the Classroom requirement can be found here .
  2. Completing a short-term or long-term Study Abroad course of study, signified in the Course Catalog and arranged by the University of Hartford Study Abroad Office.
  3. Teaching Assistantship (e.g., teaching a laboratory section of CH 110 - College Chemistry )
  4. Service Learning/Civic or Community Engagement (e.g., substantial involvement in organized activities related to serving the community, such as working to develop and/or advocate for public policy)

In order to fulfill the LBC requirement, the activities the student engages in must provide opportunities to achieve the first three plus at least one of the last three of the following learning objectives:

   Mandatory:

  • Independent learning
  • Higher-order skill development (e.g., research, applied writing, leadership, critical and creative thinking, etc.)
  • Problem solving and resourcefulness

   Plus at least one of the following:

  • Professional development (e.g., learning about the world of work, professional behavior etc.)
  • Personal development (e.g., self-awareness, ethical values, resilience, social relationship skills)
  • Developing professional contacts and networking

Students completing the LBC requirement should register for LBC 400 - Learning Beyond the Classroom  and complete the LBC Approval Form from the Dean’s Office before beginning the project, describing in detail the project proposed, focusing on the above criteria that will be met by the project, and including the number of hours anticipated, and the name, title, email, and phone number of the supervising authority. Students will be expected to complete a midterm progress report and a final summary of the Learning Beyond the Classroom Experience, signed by the approved supervising authority. Written reflection and faculty supervision are required. At the completion of the LBC, students will submit the completed LBC Approval Form to an A&S College Evaluator (Hillyer Hall, Room 204 or 205).

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